Black Flames, The Blessed

Black Flames, The Blessed

"That little bastard can really run!"

As he used his Bionic Eye to lock onto the trail and track Xue Jing, the man cursed inwardly.

Martial Artists were troublesome in this regard. They were all as nimble as monkeys, darting all over the place. Annoying as hell.

After smashing through another wall, the man waved away the dust and stopped.

The tracking trail displayed in his Bionic Eye ended here. Three question marks popped up in the upper-right corner, indicating insufficient data and an unknown destination.

"He ran away?" The man's expression darkened.

"No. If he could run, he would've done so long ago. He's hiding!"

The man adjusted his Bionic Eye's mode, switching from tracking to inspection.

"You filthy little bastard, you can't get away."

In the dark red field of vision, every detail within the alley was scanned into the chip for thorough analysis.

A phantom with the exact same build as Xue Jing appeared in the Bionic Eye's view. "He" darted into the alley in a few flashes, turned and scanned the alley as though searching for something, then bent down to pick something up from the ground.

The Bionic Eye was still analyzing when a sharp whistling sound suddenly came from above.

The man instinctively raised his right hand, extending two fingers before his eyes and catching a rusty iron nail between them.

But before he could react further, a figure descended from above at an unbelievable speed right behind the nail, throwing a punch at him! The figure was absurdly fast. Before the man could make any response, the fist had already struck the palm holding the nail, driving it forward and straight into his Bionic Eye! "Aaaaargh!!!"

The rusty nail forcefully pierced his eye, sinking in completely. The man immediately screamed, blood gushing out as he clutched his eye and wailed.

Seeing that his ambush had succeeded, Xue Jing immediately pressed the advantage, launching an unceasing barrage of punches at the eye impaled by the nail.

"Bang bang bang bang bang..."

Already embedded in his eye, the nail was driven deeper and deeper into the man's body under the hammering of blow after blow.

"You're dead!!"

The man roared, enduring the pain as he opened his remaining eye and regained his vision. With a powerful sweep of both hands, he broke Xue Jing's combo.

He then kicked at Xue Jing. Xue Jing immediately brought both arms back in defense, blocking before his chest.

The kick sent Xue Jing flying several meters backward. He crashed into a wall, leaving a human-shaped dent in it.

"..."

Though he had reinforced his defense with force, Xue Jing still felt the impact painfully. His arms burned, and his chest felt tight.

"What terrifying strength."

Xue Jing casually scooped up a large handful of broken wall fragments from the ground and threw them at the man.

"Clatter..."

The stones that could practically serve as bullets in his hands had little effect when they struck the man. They merely made him cover his face with one hand, shielding his eyes.

"I'm going to tear you in half alive, you despicable brat!"

The man roared.

He truly had not expected to stumble in a backwater like Outer Ring City, suffering such a major loss at the hands of a kid whose rating had only just passed Grade 2.

"You're nothing but a low-class mutt with slightly thicker skin."

Xue Jing mocked him.

He opened the panel and took a look.

The new Divinity Skill was growing brighter and brighter.

Hearing his mockery, the man became even more enraged and charged straight at him like a heavy tank.

Xue Jing activated Twin Birth Speed and sidestepped. The wall, meanwhile, was rammed straight through by the man.

Damn it!

The man was so frustrated he wanted to cough up blood.

If ISE could pass security screening and be legally brought into Outer Ring City, would he have let this brat bounce around like this? He would've fucked him up long ago! At that moment, while sidestepping, Xue Jing's gaze sharpened. He suddenly kicked out, grazing precisely across the man's chin.

It was an instinctive strike, as natural and flawless as an antelope hanging its horns. Its angle and timing were nearly perfect.

The force of Xue Jing's kick, combined with the momentum from the man's forward lunge, immediately rattled the man's brain and sent the world spinning.

This is bad!

Watching helplessly as the ground drew closer and closer, the man inwardly cried out in alarm.

The most valuable part of his entire body was the layer of C5 Grade Protective Skin over his surface, which offered excellent defense against a Martial Artist's force.

But even so, he could not withstand a heavy blow to the chin. It was an attack on the human body's most vulnerable point—the brain.

The man fell face-first to the ground. He forced himself to get up, but the concussion had destroyed his sense of balance. No matter how he struggled, he could not rise.

Xue Jing narrowed his eyes, took a discarded pressure cooker lid from a pile of trash in the alley, and walked toward the man.

Bang!

The slanted edge of the lid smashed viciously into the back of the man's head with an explosive crack.

Bang bang bang bang!!

After a relentless series of heavy blows, the lid's handle could no longer bear the strain and snapped. The lid flew away with it.

"You... just you wait. I'll... eat you alive..."

Yet the man seemed to be perfectly fine. His sense of balance was even gradually returning as he slowly rose to his feet, still shouting threats.

Xue Jing clicked his tongue. "What kind of monster is this?"

That was not the kind of resilience a human being should possess.

At that moment, the panel burst with dazzling golden light.

Divinity absorption complete

A brand-new Divinity Skill has appeared beneath Twin Life!

Shadow Flame (Inactive): Divinity Skill. Divinity required for activation: 539/500

Requirements met. Activate?

Yes/No

Xue Jing hesitated. He did not know whether he should upgrade Twin Life first and activate one of its active effects, or activate this new Divinity Skill.

But Shadow Flame sounded like an offensive skill...

After thinking it over, Xue Jing made his decision and tapped Yes.

Activation successful

Shadow Flame Lv1 (Divinity required for upgrade: 39/100)

Effect: Transform shadows into corporeal Shadow Flame

Divinity Avatar: Locked (Unlock requirements: Divinity 39/2000, reach Lv10)

Within the alley, countless streams of black energy flowed like whirlpools from every shadow untouched by sunlight, converging upon Xue Jing.

Whoosh—

Black flames began to burn and bloom across Xue Jing's body.

The black flames blazed ever brighter, forming into a magnificent coat of Black Flame.

As the man gradually recovered from his dizziness, the pupil in his one remaining biological eye contracted to its limit at the sight.

His mouth fell open, and his expression slowly shifted from rage to terror.

"You...!"

He seemed to want to say something, but could no longer speak.

An arm wreathed in Black Flame seized the lower half of his face and lifted him high into the air.

The man's pupils constricted. He was terrified beyond measure, so terrified that he did not even dare resist.

Inhuman power, The Blessed...

He's The Blessed!!

I was actually making an enemy of one of The Blessed?

Ha, hahaha, haha...

I'm dead. Am I going to die?

I'm definitely dead...

"Watch how you talk in your next life," Xue Jing said softly.

Boom!

Under his control, countless black flames converged upon his arm and poured into the man's mouth.

The man twitched a few times. The skin all over his body swelled, his eyes rolled white, and before long, he stopped struggling.

Wisps of black flame emerged from his eyes, nose, and ears before dissipating into the air.

"..."

Glancing at the motionless corpse in his hand, Xue Jing tossed it to the ground, calming the turbulent emotions stirred by taking a life for the first time.

Black flames coiled around him, flickering quietly, like an underworld god of death draped in mortality.

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